Youth prison may close while new contractor is sought

Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2001 | 10:35 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The troubled Summit View Correctional Center in Clark County, which housed serious juvenile offenders, will likely be shut down while the state searches for another private company to operate it.

In a surprise move Monday, the Legislative Interim Finance Committee rejected Gov. Kenny Guinn's plan for the state to take over the facility from Correctional Services Corp., which wants out of its contract.

Republicans on the committee followed the lead of Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, who suggested there were cheaper alternatives to handle juvenile delinquents than for the state to start running the facility.

The state-owned center was opened in 2000, operated by Youth Services International. But there have been complaints about lack of security and other deficiencies under the supervision of Correctional Services, parent company of Youth Services International.

Guinn had accepted the recommendation of State Human Resources Director Mike Willden for the state to replace the private company and sent the plan to the legislative committee for funding.

After the committee's rejection of the state-operated plan, Willden said the youths now in the facility would probably have to be transferred, and the center temporarily closed while bids were solicited from private companies.

It will take 90 days, in a best-case scenario, to find a new contractor, Willden said. March 1 is the target date for Youth Services International to pull out. Willden said a new contract would have to be devised to eliminate some of the weaknesses of the one with YSI.

Raggio noted the state's proposal would cost $155 per day per inmate, compared with $113 to send serious delinquents out of state, which was the approach before the new facility was built.

The state had not tried to find another private contractor, Raggio said. He also mentioned alternatives, such as placing some of these inmates in the Rite of Passage program, which charges $124 per day.

Assemblyman Joe Dini, D-Yerington, one of the few Democrats to join Raggio, said the state was "moving in the wrong way" in its effort to take over Summit View. He said the less serious offenders could be sent to Rite of Passage and the serious youth could be shipped out of state.

Willie Smith, deputy state administrator for youth corrections, told the committee that Rite of Passage would not accept offenders who have had sexual, alcohol, drug and mental problems.

Out-of-state facilities don't have the schooling and rehabilitation opportunities the state could provide at Summit View, she added.

Raggio noted the costs are less at the two minimum-security youth work camps -- $113 per day per inmate, compared to the suggested $155 cost at Summit View.

The higher cost is because the youth work camps have ratios of 1 staff member to 20 inmates; at Summit View it is 1 to 8, Smith said. The 1-to-20 ratio at the Caliente and Elko camps was "quite high," she added, and the state has "been lucky over the years" that there has not been major problems at these two facilities.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, supported the Guinn proposal for a state operation. She said the situation under Youth Services International "has been appalling" and has been a disservice to the inmates. The Sun reported in September that the prison had a host of problems, from escapes and and suicide attempts to complaints that female staff members were having sexual relations with inmates.

Youth Services International's decision to end its contract with the state came two weeks after the Sun began investigating those problems.

Leslie said there have been problems across the nation with privately run correctional centers, and the Las Vegas facility was built to keep the young prisoners closer to their families.

Youth Services International had problems with its staff because of the low pay, Willden said. He said the front-line staff was paid $18,000 to $19,000 a year. The state intended to pay comparable staff $29,000 a year, which explains why the cost is higher per inmate. He said also the state would hire more maintenance staff.

The legislative committee heard a proposal from Dorothy North, chief executive officer of Vitality Center, and David Cheveallier of Dismas Charities Inc., to run Summit View. North runs a drug and alcohol abuse program for 500 adult inmates at the Warm Springs Prison in Carson City, which, she said, is successful. Cheveallier said Dismas, a nonprofit organization, runs similar jail and juvenile centers in states such as Kentucky, Texas and Florida.

They said they could "put something together quickly" to operate in Las Vegas. Speaking of the present Summit View, Cheveallier, a vice president of Dismas, said, "We have not had these problems in 35 years."

Raggio encouraged them to submit a proposal to Willden.

Summit View has 96 beds, but there are only 39 inmates in the center today. One of the reasons Youth Services International gave for canceling its contract was that the prison never reached full capacity.